I've been reading so many different approaches to ketosis that my head is spinning. I believe that I'm having trouble dropping weight because I need to up, up, up my fat and lower protein-and of course keep it low carb. I'm planning on starting with the BPC in the morning. But what do other's eat and when do they eat it after their BPC? I know some do the Intermittent Fasting, and I'm not ready to make that leap....That's a huge step for me. If anyone starts their day with BCP and then follows through with a high fat regimen, I'd love to hear what your day is like. And any tips

Also, I keep seeing everyone discussing to 90% lindt bars. I glanced at one at the grocery store and it seemed fairly in carbs. What's the benefit to adding chocolate in your diet? Or is it just for pleasure?

I drink Bulletproof Coffee every morning, and it helps me keep my protein levels down. I make 16 oz. and drink half immediately for breakfast and the other half throughout the morning as I work. I find I don't get hungry when I do that..in fact, lately I've had trouble getting enough calories in during the day because I've no desire to eat. One tip: blend the BPC in a blender or magic bullet - it makes the butter and CO emulsify and prevents the oil slick on top (unless you microwave it; then all bets are off.)

For the rest of the day, I can eat pretty normally. Lunch would be soup and a flax cracker, or maybe a chef salad, and dinner is usually cooked veggies and meat, plus a dessert - OMMs or a fat bomb, depending on my mood. I tend to snack on cheese or hard boiled eggs, too, if needed.

As for the chocolate, the biggest benefit is pleasure, although I understand it has antioxidants that also make it good for you. I would eat at most one square, and usually combine it with something higher in fat, like coconut oil or almond butter. I often use it to make fat bombs, melting the chocolate and mixing it with butter or heavy cream and a bit of sugar-free sweetener to make it go farther. Mmm.... The really nice thing about the high cacao content chocolate is that it is so strongly-flavored that it doesn't take much to satisfy your desire for chocolate.

As far as chocolate, unfortunately it leads to cold sores for me, so I have to do my best to avoid it..... I also have to avoid too many nuts.

Also keep in mind: I am 31F, but am extremely metabolic resistance, a result of being a morbidly obese child. However, I do briskly walk everyday at least 1 hour, sometimes 2 hours (I live in Europe and walk everywhere - grocery shopping, to work, etc). I also like to jog 10-12km a few times a week. Additionally, I try to weight train with heavier weights 3 x's a week.

I suppose my calories are naturally around the 2000 mark. I am losing slowly eating this way. I cannot lose weight fast anymore, so cutting calories isn't an option. I believe that Leptin levels must be regulated before someone metabolically resistant can lose any weight. The only way we can even start to regulate this hormone is by eating fat when our bodies tell us they are hungry, not by continuing to restrict.

At some point in this whole process, I have come to realize (slowly), that my external self-regulation of calories, also known as "will-power" in the diet world, was acting against my efforts to achieve a healthy body weight.

If you don't cheat or "go off plan" while you follow this diet, you might find yourself in a similar situation: you may be able to follow your hunger cues and slowly lose fat.

But, whether one should count calories or not on NK is disputed in this forum. Many keep a very tight control over each gram of everything they eat and seem to do well. This approach doesn't work for me and leads to nutritional imbalances.

I really don't know..... I could be more able than most to follow my hunger cues because I am quite active.

i have been trying to do lchf as naturally as possible.
I start with bp coffee, and drink a few cups..I do not measure anything.
I usually make it to 1 or 2 pm before I am hungry. Essentially, I am doing the bulletproof IF.. stop eating by 8 pm, no food (besides bpc) until 2 pm. (18 hours)
I like a warm bacon spinach salad for lunch if I am home,(cook bacon, then throw a splash of vinegar and minced garlic in the pan, deglaze, throw spinach in to fat/vinegar mixture, top with avocado. A chunk of cheese and some veggies for lunch if I am out.
Dinner is protein and salad, or meat and veggie.
Usually will do a fat bomb or a microwave cupcake or something for a snack if I am hungry after.

Just wanted to chime in and say that I eat one piece of dark chocolate per day, every day and I really feel like it's helped me out I did some research a while ago that indicated that dark chocolate is especially beneficial to those with insulin resistance, but is beneficial to anyone because it has a positive effect on stabilizing blood sugar and sensitizing the body to its own insulin again.

Most of us NK-ers don't fast at all because that's not a part of the core of that specific WOE... but some of us do, and find it works for them. If it's not something you'd want to do, you definitely don't have to. I think it's a personal decision, and I don't do it myself and probably never would. My body feels better when I eat/drink fairly regularly

That being said... a typical day for me looks like this:

Breakfast - bulletproof tea (I can't have coffee basically!) This is generally whenever I wake up. I get up, use the bathroom, check my ketones, weigh myself, and then go about making my mug of tea. Sometimes if I'm with family we'll go out for breakfast, and I'll still have that tea to ensure I'm more full and don't overeat at the restaurant... in which case I just order two fried eggs and a side of bacon or sausage and then skip an actual lunch.

Lunch - If I had a large breakfast, I normally only have another mug of bulletproof tea. If I didn't, I generally have a fairly small meal. Sometimes a McDonald's quarter pounder patty (just the patty) with something on top that interests me since I take it home to eat it... sometimes a hot dog, or maybe a small salad. Something small, and generally if I had breakfast around 9 or 9:30am I'll be having my lunch at around 12 noon or 1pm.

Dinner - Dinner is my BIG meal. I eat most of my protein during this meal, and make sure to add plenty of fat. I usually eat at around 5pm or 6pm depending on how my day's going. If I know I'm dining out instead of cooking for myself I make sure I look at the menu in advance and factor that into my daily totals... a lot of times if I'm dining out for dinner, I have to cut down on things like protein and sodium during the rest of my day to account for restaurant LC-friendly food generally being high in both.

Snacks - I always have a bed time snack too, which is my daily piece of dark chocolate and another mug of BPT. I feel like the tea sits really well on my tummy at night and it relaxes me and helps me sleep. The time for the snack varies since I don't always go to bed at the same times, but it's generally a couple hours before I lay down for the night. I'd say usually somewhere between 10pm-midnight or so.

I meant to say too... I use a tracker and find it to be SO useful! I wouldn't be able to live without it (okay, maybe I could LIVE without it, but it'd make NK and LC soooo much more difficult if I did )

Basically, this is my general strategy at the start of any day (or at the end of one if I'm feeling ambitious enough to plan out tomorrow's meals somewhat):

I always have bulletproof tea for breakfast, no matter what else I'm doing. So that immediately gets logged for the day. I always have it at night with my dark chocolate too, so I know I can immediately add that as well.

At that point, I build off of what I want for dinner that day. I ALWAYS try and think of something high fat to keep my macros where they should be... but if I can think of what I want for dinner, I can log that and see what calories/fat/protein/carbs I have left for the day and what I can play around with.

That "extra" that I find I have after my breakfast, dinner, and snacks are logged becomes my lunch If I have extra room and need something filled in, I actually eat a lunch and make sure it fills that slot well... if I find I'm already rather high in protein or sodium or something like that, I simply have a mug of BPT and call it even

I buy cocoa nibs which are the dried and fermented cacao beans crushed into small bits. They are basically chocolate that hasnt been grounds and mixed with sugar yet. I add a tablespoon to my breakfast muffins which I sweeten with stevia. that way i get a chocolate taste and the benefits of dark chocolate, without actually eating 'chocolate'.

I buy cocoa nibs which are the dried and fermented cacao beans crushed into small bits. They are basically chocolate that hasnt been grounds and mixed with sugar yet. I add a tablespoon to my breakfast muffins which I sweeten with stevia. that way i get a chocolate taste and the benefits of dark chocolate, without actually eating 'chocolate'.

Ohhhh, I saw these recently at a health food store and didn't know what they were. I may pick up a bag next time.

__________________Cathy
Original start - Feb. 2000 180/125

"The energy content of food (calories) matters, but it is less important than the metabolic effect of food on our body." Dr. P. Attia

I buy cocoa nibs which are the dried and fermented cacao beans crushed into small bits. They are basically chocolate that hasnt been grounds and mixed with sugar yet. I add a tablespoon to my breakfast muffins which I sweeten with stevia. that way i get a chocolate taste and the benefits of dark chocolate, without actually eating 'chocolate'.

I think that I might pick these up as well. Do you eat them as they are as well?